Originally Posted by
Wookey
Maybe dumb question but was the Trident the first aircraft to have wing leading edge lift devices (slats or droops or whatever you call them)?
Dont recall noticing them on other aircraft of the era or earlier that I flew on like Caravelle, comet etc.
If you mean
airliners, I don't have a quick anwer.
But wing leading edge devices as such go back to WWII, and probably even pre-war. Some Messerschmitts come to mind, and the Fieseler Storch STOL, but the list is much longer.
CJ